Castle Dome Mountains
{{Short description|Landform in Yuma County, Arizona, US}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Castle Dome Mountains
| photo = Castle Dome Peak.jpg
| photo_size =
| photo_caption = Castle Dome Peak in the Castle Dome Mountains within Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.
| country = United States
| state = Arizona
| geology =
| orogeny =
| highest = Castle Dome Peak
| elevation = {{convert|3780|ft|m|0}}
| elevation_ref = {{cite gnis|2529|Castle Dome Peak}}
| coordinates = {{coord|33.0845680|-114.1434325|format=dms|type:mountain_scale:100000|display=inline,title}}
| map = Arizona
| map_caption = Castle Dome Mountains
| map_size=200
}}
The Castle Dome Mountains (Tolkepaya Yavapai: Wi:hopuʼ) are a mountain range in Yuma County, Arizona, within the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. Castle Dome Peak, the high point of the range, is a prominent butte and distinctive landmark. The peak is {{convert|3780|ft|m|0}} high, and is located at 33°05′04″N 114°08′36″W. Castle Dome was named by American soldiers at old Fort Yuma in the 1880s. Early Spanish explorers called the same peak Cabeza de Gigante, "Giant's Head."
History
=Mining=
File:Wulfenite-284753.jpg specimen from the old Hull Mine, Castle Dome mining district]]
The Castle Dome mining district is one of Yuma County's oldest and most productive mining locations. Its proximity to the Colorado River and relatively low rates of freight at the time permitted the mining of even low grades of ore which wouldn't have been profitable at other locations.{{cite web |url=http://www.mindat.org/loc-3400.html |title=Castle Dome District, Castle Dome Mts, Yuma Co., Arizona, USA |publisher=MineDat.org |access-date=September 4, 2009}}{{cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Patrick |title=The resources of Arizona: Its mineral, farming, and grazing lands, towns, and mining camps, its rivers, mountains, plains, and mesas, with a brief summary ... information concerning the territory |publisher=A.L. Bancroft & Co., printers |location=Arizona |year=1883 |edition=2nd |pages=72 |chapter=Mining Resources |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2H4UAAAAYAAJ&q=castle+dome+arizona&pg=PA72 |access-date=2009-09-08}} In addition to silver and lead, the area is rich in numerous other minerals, including zinc, copper, gold, and many others. Total production from the Castle Dome mines included {{convert|10697|ST}} of lead, {{convert|498000|ozt}} of silver, {{convert|38|ST}} of zinc, {{convert|36|ST}} of copper, {{convert|2000|ozt}} of gold, and {{convert|7000|ozt}} of placer gold production, mostly prior to 1900.
=Settlements=
The area was home to the town and mining camp of Castle Dome based around the Castle Dome Mine which first produced silver and later lead. The post office opened in 1875 and closed in 1876.{{cite book |last=Sherman |first=James E. |author2=Barbara H. Sherman |title=Ghost Towns of Arizona |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hf97Akn8l9kC&pg=PA19 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=1969 |edition=First |pages=19 |chapter=Castle Dome Landing |isbn=0-8061-0843-6 |access-date=2009-09-04}}[https://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/castledome.html Castle Dome ghost town] Castle Dome ghost town is now a museum site, the Castle Dome Mines Museum, with twenty or so restored period buildings.{{cite book |last=Lowe |first=Sam |title=Arizona Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff |publisher=Globe Pequot |date=April 1, 2007 |edition=2nd |pages=226 |chapter=Southwest Arizona |isbn=978-0-7627-4114-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vv4FAzcxRd8C&q=castle%20dome%20arizona&pg=PA226 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite news|url=https://www.azcentral.com/travel/arizona/features/articles/0601castle0601.html|title=Forgotten mining era revived|last=Lowe|first=Sam|date=June 1, 2007|publisher=azcentral.com|access-date=2009-09-04}}
Castle Dome Landing was the port and supply point nearby on the Colorado River. The townsite is now submerged beneath the Imperial Dam reservoir.{{cite book |last=Massey |first=Peter |author2=Wilson, Jeanne |title=Backcountry Adventures Arizona: The Ultimate Guide to the Arizona Backcountry for Anyone With a Sport Utility Vehicle |publisher=Adler Publishing Co |date=April 24, 2006 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K5duDoiPh30C&q=castle%20dome%20arizona&pg=PP1 |chapter=Along the Trail |pages=27–28 |isbn=1-930193-28-9 |access-date=2009-09-08}}[https://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/castledomelanding.html Castle Dome Landing]
Mineral collecting
The Castle Dome mining district is a popular district for mineral collectors. The region is known for striking combinations of cerussite, fluorite, vanadinite, wulfenite, barite, and mimetite, as well as galenite and anglesite. The Hull Mine and Puzzler Mine in particular have produced atypical green vanadinite and mimetite as well as yellow-hued wulfenite.{{cite journal|last=Domitrovic|first=Anna M.|author2=Wilson, Wendell E. |author3=Hay, Mark |date=September–October 1998|title=Famous Mineral Localities: The Castle Dome District, Yuma County, Arizona|journal=The Mineralogical Record|volume=29|issue=5|pages=437–458|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-5596534_ITM|access-date=2009-09-09}}{{cite book|last=Dana|first=James Dwight|title=Manual of Mineralogy and Petrography; Containing the Elements of the Science of Minerals and Rocks|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=1888|pages=[https://archive.org/details/manualmineralog15danagoog/page/n388 394]|chapter=Catalogue of American Localities of Minerals|url=https://archive.org/details/manualmineralog15danagoog|quote=Castle Dome barite cerussite fluorite vanadinite wulfenite mimetite.|access-date=2009-09-09}}{{cite web |url=http://www.mindat.org/loc-3401.html |title=Puzzler Mine (Puzzler claim), Adams Mine group (Adams claims), Kofa Game Range, Castle Dome District, Castle Dome Mts, Yuma Co., Arizona, USA |publisher=MineDat.org |access-date=September 4, 2009}}{{cite web |url=http://www.mindat.org/loc-33379.html |title=Hull Mine group (Rialto Mine group; Hull group of claims; Rialto claims), Buckeye vein group, Castle Dome Mine group, Kofa Game Range, Castle Dome District, Castle Dome Mts, Yuma Co., Arizona, USA |publisher=MineDat.org |access-date=September 4, 2009}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- [https://www.pbase.com/laryl/castle_dome Castle Dome ghost town museum photo gallery]
- [https://www.azcentral.com/travel/arizona/features/articles/0601castle0601.html "Forgotten mining era revived"], Arizona Republic article on Castle Dome ghost town
- [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-5596534_ITM Famous mineral localities: The Castle Dome District, Yuma County, Arizona]. Summary -- [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/page_about_gen US library card] required for full article.
- [http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g31418-d2651085-Reviews-Castle_Dome_Mines_Museum_Ghost_Town-Yuma_Arizona.html Castle Dome Mines Museum & Ghost Town] at Trip Advisor
{{Yuma County, Arizona}}
{{Mountains of Arizona}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Mountain ranges of the Sonoran Desert
Category:Mountain ranges of the Lower Colorado River Valley